BRANCHBURG, N.J., Sept. 19, 2014 – The Christie Administration today congratulated graduates of a state CNC Machinist program at Raritan Valley Community College, the tenth class to be held under the New Jersey Manufacturing Training Initiative. The program has an impressive track record of moving trainees directly from the classroom and into jobs.

Launched two years ago, the program is funded through a grant provided by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development in partnership with the New Jersey College Consortium (NJCC) for Workforce & Economic Development, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association and the state Advanced Manufacturing Talent Network.

“More than 110 workers have successfully completed this important training initiative, with about 90 percent landing employment. That is because the program provides job-seekers with skills that New Jersey’s manufacturing employers want, need and identify as essential to their businesses. As our annual celebration of Manufacturing Week in New Jersey draws near, it is imperative that we work to support those industry sectors that promise to create more jobs in the Garden State,” said Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths.

The graduates were presented with certificates of course completion today after Jeff Flatley, Director of Workforce Portfolio and Contract Management for the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, presided over a morning ceremony at Raritan Valley Community College. The training helps candidates earn certification in the advanced manufacturing fields of Fabricated Metal Product or CNC, known as Computer Numerical Control machining providing them with skills that are highly valued in New Jersey’s lean and advanced manufacturing industry.

Graduates of the CNC machining program will operate computer-guided machinery programmed to produce, assemble or design components in the manufacturing process. The Raritan Valley Community College class graduated 10 trainees, many of whom have already been offered promises of employment. The success of the program is rooted in the state’s partnership with the New Jersey College Consortium and the NJBIA, and was recently given a boost by Camden County College’s recent acquisition of two mobile training laboratories.

The large trailers, fully equipped with machinery needed for hands-on CNC instruction, allow classrooms to be set up wherever they are in demand in New Jersey.

"We continue to close the skills gap in advanced manufacturing, now using our mobile training lab for the first time in New Jersey. Our employer partners have shown tremendous interest in customizing the training program and through the Department of Labor's grant funds there was no cost to the employers or the trainees. The mobile lab is in high demand as employers in Monmouth and Union have already reserved it next at the area community colleges,” said Sivaraman Anbarasan, Executive Director of NJCC.

The manufacturing training program recruits industry employers and operates on the principle that employers in this key industry are best-suited to identify the skills that job seekers need to find employment in the industry.

Graduates receive a total of 300 hours of training, a College Certificate of Competency and each trainee will sit for the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) Certification Exam for Measurement, Materials, and Safety Level I.

For more information about the Fabricated Metal Product / CNC Machining Manufacturing Training Program and admission requirements please go to www.njworkforce.org

Raritan Valley Community College hosted a graduation cerermony for the latest graduates of the New Jersey Manufacturing Training Initiative, some of whom are pictured above waiting to receive their certifications.

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